Sustinet becomes law while Health Care Partnership blocked.

Health care reform scored a victory last week with approval of the Sustinet legislation.  The legislature overrode the veto of Gov. M. Jodi Rell to make this health care reform legislation law.

The Sustinet legislation provides for the creation of a comprehensive health care system in Connecticut to provide affordable quality health care.  The final health plan created under the Sustinet process will require final approval of the legislature, and the planning process created under the legislation will make Connecticut ready for the health care reform under debate in Congress.

This an important victory for the people of our state.  It is finally a great step toward toward affordable quality health care.

The state House of Representatives also overrode Gov. Rell's veto of the Health Care Partnership legislation, but the state Senate fell one vote short of the needed 24 votes to make the legislation law.  The Health Partnership would save municipalities and small businesses money by opening the state health pool to them.

The Health Care Partnership legislation could save New Britain taxpayers $900,000 a year.  And it would help small businesses to save money and create jobs.  All elected officials should be in support of this legislation to save taxpayers and small businesses money.

The people of our state won a good victory on affordable quality health care. But, between the implementation of Sustinet and the need to win on the Health Care Partnership, there is still more work to do to achieve affordable quality health care for all.

Meeting to Address Wal-Mart Closure.

This article was in the New Britain Herald yesterday:

Since that article I have spoken with state Labor Commissioner Patricia H. Mayfield, who is working on helping the workers as well.

Legislature approves state budget.

The State House of Representatives just approved the state budget that was approved by the State Senate yesterday.

With the economy in a slump and the state budget in great deficit, everyone knows that there are difficult choices that need to be made.  There are many difficult choices made in the budget approved today, and there are things about this budget that I do not like.

But, overall, I think that Rep. John Geragosian, chair of the legislature's Appropriations Committee, did a good job of creating a budget that makes fair decisions from the difficult choices.  This budget cuts the state budget by over $2 billion, by making tough choices to cut back on state spending.

Yet this budget makes the fair decision to preserve important things, like:

• support for our local schools
• health care
• Dial-A-Ride for senior citizens
• ConnPACE
• libraries
• nursing homes
• Head Start
• family resource centers
• technical schools
• services for seniors and people with disabilities
• funding for the arts - including the New Britain Arts Alliance.

This budget makes the choice to be fair by asking the wealthiest people in the state - those with incomes over $500,000 a year - to contribute just a little more to be able to meet the important needs of our state.

I voted in support of this budget.  Now it is important that Gov. Rell sign this budget so that the state will have a budget by the start of the budget year on July 1st.